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Hi Bushwander,
To be honest, I dont really know. However I have family connections with two caravan repair agent /sales yards in Perth and when I asked about wood versus ali frames (in a more general sense - not flex explicitly) their response was quiet indifferent. With a good chassis, my guess is both would be fine as long as you take your time on corrigations and a few sensible precautionary measures.
Cheers,
Taz.
Thanks Taz. :BigThumb:
I own a 1978 gypsy minivan. This is a 16 foot van from hitch to back and is a 6 birth. This van was bought for $3500 and has served us well. We have just had it in for repairs due to dry rot in the back.
Steel frame vans do not rot and can be done up to new for about $12000.
A word of warning when taking out furniture: strength in a van is with the furniture not the framed walls. The furniture such as wardrobes are holding the walls strong.
My wife spent a whole $20 when we bought the van on material and relined the furnishings.
We have taken our van to some remote places and it has gone and come back better than some of the newer vans:cool::cool:
My advice would be that what ever style of van you decide to buy the first part of the inspection would be to climb under it and have a look at the chassis.
Most will have spent time by or near the sea. The chassis will be steel and the factory generally only gave them a light coat of paint before building the van on top. Result is that many look like new inside however the chassis is rusted out.
Lived in a caravan park for a while when was a kid. There was always a crowd of us around when a van which had been in place for a while was leaving. We used to enjoy the sight when the hand brake on the caravan had seized on or the wheel bearings were frozen and they attempted to drive off. How far would they go before realising something was wrong? Best one actually pulled the van apart with axle seperating from the van.